{"id":3162,"date":"2014-06-20T19:10:27","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T18:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=3162"},"modified":"2026-05-23T08:37:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:37:41","slug":"travel-tales-and-port-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2014\/06\/20\/travel-tales-and-port-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel Tales and Port Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pushing
Pushing the boat out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"
Followed by a speedy retreat for the tractor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then not a lot happened.\u00a0 We needed to stop, recoup and take time to smell the\u2026\u2026.fishes.\u00a0 So on Tuesday afternoon we cycled down to the beach, stretched out on the sand and watched the local fishermen doing their thing again.\u00a0 I kept trying to imagine, the tractors, trailers, fish and noise being part of the scenery on Bondi, or Freshwater Beach\u2026\u2026.nope, it just couldn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Daniel Craig impersonation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unfortunately our chill out day turned out not so chilled at the end. We discovered our credit card had been used illegally in California, USA, so we spent the evening making a $45 phone call, followed by three emails to the bank in Australia.\u00a0 When we tried to get to sleep, our heads were full of bank problems, dang!\u00a0 And we started Wednesday morning with more emails from and to the bank, before driving north up the coast road through Costa Nova and Barra to Aveiro.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Typical
Typical houses in Costa Nova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Michelin Guide describes Aveiro as the \u2018Venice of Portugal\u2019.\u00a0 Mr Luis Campsite warned us that there was \u201creally only one canal, that\u2019s it, just one\u201d.\u00a0 He also gave us a map and showed us how to find a spot that was free to park in all day.\u00a0 We walked through the main tourist centre in about 5-minutes, looked at the one canal, found a caf\u00e9 for our daily pasteis de nata, and then paid for a 45-minute ride along the canal.\u00a0 It did actually have a couple of small side shoots, but there really wasn\u2019t much to see; Luis was right.\u00a0 But it was nice relaxing in the rather lovely flat-bottomed boat with its brightly painted, elegantly curved prow and stern.\u00a0 In Portugal they call them moliceiros and have a competition each year to find the best painted prow, a nice touch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Moliceiros
Moliceiros prow in Aveiro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Its
It’s not called a gondola, so is he a moliceirosier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When we returned to Eileen we could see two men walking around her looking a little too interested, so we called out “hola”.\u00a0 It turned out they were from the two French big campervans parked nearby and were intrigued by our little Eileen.\u00a0 They said they thought she was “tr\u00e8s jolie”, which pleased us and we thanked them.\u00a0 We now consider her officially ‘very tr\u00e8s jolie’.<\/p>\n

From Aveiro the 54 kms drive up the N109 was\u2026\u2026.dull. \u00a0It seemed like one, long, never ending town with endless roundabouts. There seemed to be no break in the housing, or businesses; there was nothing attractive about the route and something that we\u2019ve always thought was a good idea, turned out to be a huge pain for us.\u00a0 As you drive into a town or village in Spain and Portugal there are flashing yellow lights.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t slow down to 50kmph or less, the traffic-light 100 metres ahead changes to red, so it really does work well at slowing the traffic to the speed limit, as no-one wants to stop and wait for the light to change. Very clever stuff.\u00a0 However, when you\u2019re travelling along 54kms of pot-holed roads past so very many of these traffic-lights, it is mind-numbingly frustrating to say the least!\u00a0 We were very relieved when after a two-hour drive, we finally reached Camping Madalena, just south of Porto.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Rodney
Rodney found a funny chap in Aveiro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Keen to find an interesting city, we caught an early bus into Porto.\u00a0 I was still a bit sleepy, but the bus ride certainly woke me up.\u00a0 It was a bit like a thrill ride at a theme park.\u00a0 The bus was full size, not some little mini-bus.\u00a0 It shot through villages that weren\u2019t seemingly wide enough to take Eileen.\u00a0 For 40-minutes we saw every village and suburb south of Porto and I do not know how we never hit another car, or wall, or house.\u00a0 We had a head-on standoff with a huge coach on a sharp bend near Grahams Port Wine Cellars, but we won and the coach somehow backed up enough for us to get through.\u00a0 I honestly had to close my eyes and lean away from the window on many occasions!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Port
Port wine cellars in Villa Nove de Gaia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The bus dropped us off behind the Igreja de Trinidade and feeling a bit overwhelmed at the size of the city, Portugal\u2019s second largest, we knew it would take us more than 5-minutes to discover its beauty.\u00a0 So we hopped on a ‘Yellow Bus Historical Tour’ and enjoyed an hour of watching Porto go by, whilst sitting on the open top deck in the drizzly weather.\u00a0 Actually, it was more of a mizzle than a drizzle, we didn\u2019t really get wet, but it wasn\u2019t pleasant and we were glad we had jumpers on for the first time in ages.\u00a0 The tour took us right out to Foz do Doura on the west coast and then round the opening of the Rio Douro and back into Porto.\u00a0 We hopped off at stop 29 to take a look at the amazing Ponte de Dom Luis I, a fabulous two-level iron bridge which is now a World Heritage site.\u00a0 The view from the terrace of the former Convento de Nossa Senhora da Serra do Pilar is quite spectacular looking over the bridge and the city of Porto on the opposite bank.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ponte
Ponte de Dom Luis I<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
The Rio Douro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

From there we wandered down steep winding lanes through the heart of Villa Nove de Gaia where all the wine lodges store and mature their port.\u00a0 We ate a very meaty lunch at one the many riverside restaurants and then crossed the road to the open doors of all the port wine cellars.\u00a0 Not sure why, but we chose to visit Sandemans; maybe because I remember my parents selling it to customers in our off-licence in Weston-Super-Mare and I\u2019ve always liked the trademark, which turned out to be one of the very first trademarks in the world.\u00a0 It was a very interesting tour, we learnt a lot about port and at the end of the tour I learnt that I much prefer white port to a ruby.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Why
Why don’t we go in this one……..?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sandeman
Sandeman cellars<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ponte
Ponte de Dom Luis I from the other side<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sun was trying to come out when we left the cellars and strolled over the lower deck of the Ponte de Dom Luis I and along the opposite riverbank.\u00a0 We followed steep streets that led us up through the Ribeira district to the cathedral, which turned out to be the gloomiest I\u2019ve ever seen; we didn\u2019t stay long.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
The Ribeira district<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Gustave Eiffel’s Ponte Maria Pia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We were now on track for being high enough to find the road across to the top level of the Ponte de Dom Luis I, and again the view from up there is quite lovely.\u00a0 We hopped back on a Yellow Bus at stop 29 and enjoyed sitting for a short while as it took us over the Ponte do Infante and back in to the centre of the city.\u00a0\u00a0 I was keen to find the smallest house in Portugal, built between two churches, the Igrejo do Carmo and the Igreja das Carmelitas.\u00a0 Apparently an ancient law banned two churches sharing a common wall, strange but true.\u00a0 You\u2019d think it would save a bit of money.\u00a0 So a tall, very narrow house was squeezed in between and it looked like someone was renovating it to move in!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The narrowest house in Portugal, the front door is just by the back door of the van<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We took a turn around the base of the Torre dos Cl\u00e9rigos, which must be the first tower we haven\u2019t gone up, but a cold drink was calling to us more strongly than 225 steps.\u00a0 Finally we strolled along the Rua de Santa Catarina with all its modern, busy shops and caught the 906 bus back to Madalena, with my eyes sometimes closed again, for some of the \u2018ride\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Apartments in the Ribeira district<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Friday was forecast as the only nice day for a week, so we decided to stay put for an extra day, get all the sheets washed and spend some time on the beach, or by the pool, before we have to pull on jumpers again.\u00a0 \u00a0Trouble is, neither of us is good at sitting all day, so at 3pm the bikes came off and we cycled down to the promenade at Praira da Madelena, turned right and then kept pedalling, past Praia de Pedras Amarelas, and Praia de Salgueires and Praia da Lavadores.\u00a0 It was a brilliant, flat cycle path all along the beach front and we reached the mouth of the Doura and its massive sandbank in less than 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The sandbank at the entry to the Doura<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still not puffed, we turned right again and followed the estuary through the village of St Pedro da Alfurado and we only stopped when we had passed under the enormous Ponte da Ar\u00e1bida and could see the centre of Porto in front of us.\u00a0 We hadn\u2019t realised that we were so close to the city and probably could have cycled there in much the same amount of time as it took the bus; though I\u2019m not sure I could have cycled back after so much pavement pounding yesterday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Porto
Porto across the Rio Doura<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

A fun fair was being set up in St Pedro da Alfurado, plus bunting and street lights were being strung across the narrow streets in the village.\u00a0 Next weekend they apparently celebrate St Pedro in a big way.\u00a0 \u00a0Back at Praia de Lavadores we stopped for a rejuvenating drink at one of the numerous stylish cafes that are set right on the beach all along the promenade and then cycled on back to Eileen for dinner.\u00a0 Tomorrow we will try and get nearer the border\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Cycling through St Pedro da Alfurado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Drying
Drying the washing next to the churros van in St Pedro da Alfurado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
The famous Dom trademark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  And then not a lot happened.\u00a0 We needed to stop, recoup and take time to smell the\u2026\u2026.fishes.\u00a0 So on Tuesday afternoon we cycled down to the beach, stretched out on the sand and watched the local fishermen doing their thing again.\u00a0 I kept trying to imagine, the tractors, trailers, fish and noise being part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3162"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8320,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3162\/revisions\/8320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}